Ask A Mexican 10/22/08

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

By Gustavo Arellano

Dear Mexican: One of our Arizona politicians once said on the PBS show Horizonte that the ‘crime’ of being undocumented in this country is equivalent legally to that of a parking ticket. Do you know where I can verify this statement? So often in the argument over immigration the bottom line for those who are anti-immigrant is that there must be no tolerance for ‘criminals’. I don’t see people who have gotten a parking ticket as being so bad. I’d like to remind people of the exact legal nature of being undocumented, but want to be sure I know what I’m talking about. Can you help?
–Gringo Who Wouldn’t Be Here if His Grandparents Hadn’t Left Poland.

Dear Gabacho: The Copper State politician was right and equivocado—correcto to downplay the criminality of being in this country illegally (that’s just a civil booboo not classified as a federal crime by the Immigration and Nationality Act) but wrong to say it’s as harmless as a parking ticket. Last I checked, a parking ticket doesn’t spark a Know Nothing movement, can’t propel pendejo politicians to office and won’t split up families. Besides, splitting the hairs of our nation’s labyrinthine immigration laws (being in this country illegally isn’t a federal crime, but entering the United States illegally is) might win rhetorical battles but does nothing to advance the amnesty movement.

My advice: stick to the Reconquista-approved talking points of America’s necessity for cheap labor and the immigrant can-do spirit/prolific fecundity as necessary to help elderly, lazy gabachos keep los Estados Unidos strong in the face of the Guatemalan menace.


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Ask A Mexican 10/22/08 | Planet JH News Article: Ask A Mexican

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